The present invention relates to a bale grinder or shredder which provides a flail type bale grinder that will handle large bales of material and will shred it for various purposes, and which includes a loading fork that can be used for loading one bale into the grinder, and then lifting another bale and holding it in a stored position until the first bale has been shredded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,672 shows a bale grinder or shredder of the type disclosed herein, and the flail or grinding cylinder, feeding system, and finished material distribution arrangement are the same. In this form of the invention, however, the rear portions of the frame are used for mounting a lift fork including a pair of tines mounted onto a backing member that will not only permit loading the bale directly into a bale chamber where it is ground or shredded, but also permits lifting and storing a second bale on the fork while there still is a bale in the grinding or shredding chamber.
Additionally, tub type bale grinders for hay that have lift forks attached to the tub have been known, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,361, but that device is intended to load the hay bale directly into the grinding tub, and does not permit storage of a second bale.
The present invention reduces the number of trips to a field, for example, and permits sequential mulching or shredding two bales moved from the field or from storage at the same time.